


The Simple and Not So Simple

by XMoreMinutes



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Ghost Cores (Danny Phantom), Jealousy, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Stalking, bit of, ice core and fire core, ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24876058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XMoreMinutes/pseuds/XMoreMinutes
Summary: It has started slow at first. They've always fought with each other, have never gotten along; until one day they begin to realize they may need each other more then they previously thought.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters, Danny Fenton/Vlad Masters, Dash Baxter/Danny Fenton (briefly)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 83





	The Simple and Not So Simple

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my burning trash bin of a fanfic!  
> Important to note - while most of this piece of ambitious literature is not beta read, or is beta read by me alone, I did have two poor souls helping me out, so special thanks to thevillainofthisstory (who has also writes pompep fanfiction, of much better quality than this pile of garbage!), and to https://reaperssearchhistory.tumblr.com/ and people from the Pompous Pep Discord, where I didn't stay for long but enjoyed myself nonetheless.  
> What more is there to add - I hope you enjoy this absolute monstrosity.

Ever get the feeling that something big is about to happen? Not consciously being aware of it, yet being sure you’re right?

That’s how Danny felt, lately.

Because things had been changing these past weeks, leaving him confused – and musing whether this intuition, this ability to predict future, was another one of his yet undiscovered ghost powers.

He wouldn’t be surprised, really.

See... ghosts had been disappearing. (Or maybe not disappearing, more like _not appearing)_.

Ghost attacks had become a sort of a routine. Depending on the day, he’d get at least one attack from low-caliber ghosts. A few times from a week his more powerful enemies would show up– like Skulker, or Ember for instance. If he was lucky, he’d get one, two, maybe three days of time to himself – and he would use that time to catching up with schoolwork instead of actually sleeping.

But two, three _weeks?_ No ghosts?

There was something wrong, no doubt about it.

Despite the lack of supernatural activity (besides the natural ghost populations residing in the human world – those were natural even in very low spectral activity places) Danny still dutifully went out on patrols, only to give up after forty minutes of useless floating around – his ghost sense ought to let him know if a ghost attack was to happen.

The absence of spirits gave him an unmeasurable amount of time to himself. It almost made him feel uncomfortable, to have that much of time – Danny would go so far as to call it bizarre.

Despite his growing restlessness due to his vague unease, Danny finally managed a full night’s rest, 8-hours of luxurious sleep. In the morning he actually pondered going to school on bus, before remembering what a terrible idea that was.

Out of sheer boredom, Phantom had started helping people with trivial things – a ball or cat stuck in a tree, grabbing a balloon that a child let go of.

 _One more week_ thought Danny to himself _and I might take part in that poem-writing competition that Lancer mentioned._

He unpacked his lunch – that he’d made for himself the night before, because he had time for that sort of thing these days and it did feel nice, having a lunch for once – and faced Sam.

The goth had a thoughtful expression on her face. “Danny, have you noticed? You know?” she asked vaguely.

“That Lancer seems to have lost a few pounds? Yeah, I have,” Tucker butted in. Sam spared him a glare. You could see it on her face, that she’s been thinking closely about it.

“No, I’m being serious! There are no ghosts around. I haven’t even seen the Box Ghost. It’s been weeks!”

“You’re right. I’ve been using all this free time to try catching up on my missing assignments, but I’m starting to get suspicious. I think I’ll have to go check out the Ghost Zone soon.”

“I dunno, man. I’m definitely not complaining,” Tucker yawned. “It’s kinda nice to be tired ‘cause of playing videogames all night instead of chasing Johnny or something. Nice and normal for once.”

“Yeah, you are the one to complain…” muttered Danny. “But don’t you just… miss a little adventure?”

“We’ve got an adrenalin junkie over here!” Sam laughed.

“I’m not, jeez. I’m just, you know, worried,” Danny retorted, taking a bite of his lunch. Sam was right. He had to stop ignoring his intuition and find out what was going on.

~*~

The Ghost Zone looked relatively normal for the literal home of supernatural beings. Peaceful, even. It reminded Danny of space – empty, but not entirely. He passed door after door, looking for familiar faces.

It felt so amazingly natural, just floating like that, seemingly without a thought or care in the world. Flying, not being affected by gravity, was a feeling like no other – the fact that he, a living human being (well, mostly alive) was able to feel that was _beyond._ And he, only he-

Oh yeah. Vlad.

It had been a while since Danny had heard from him the older halfa. A month or two, come to think of it. Everything had been so crazy and time-consuming: balancing ghost fighting, school, and his life at home. Danny’s spirits fell. He wasn’t really a fan of thinking about his homelife. It wasn’t so bad when he was little – his mom played with him, took him to playgrounds and read stories to him. Once he got old enough to make meals for himself (besides cereal) he was left on his own – with a bit of company from Jazz, maybe.

Sounds of music brought Danny out of his musings. He whipped his head around to identify the source. There, he spotted a figure – one that he actually knew!

“Ember! Ember!” he crowed as he dashed towards her.

“Hey, ghost boy,” she greeted him cautiously. After a beat of silence, she continued playing as though he wasn’t there.

Danny floated closer and poked her on the shoulder. “Heyyy Ember…”

“What, what do you want?!” she snapped at him, jerking away from his prodding fingers.

“I’ve just been missing you guys. Do none of you want my company anymore? You don’t like me?” Danny asked playfully. Ember threw him a murderous look. “C’mon, Ember. What’s going on?”

“I don’t think I should tell you, kid. It might not be pretty for me”

“Please?”

“No.”

“Pleaaaaseeeee?” he tried again. “You know I’m going to bother you until you tell me.”

“Yeah, I know,” she muttered under her breath.

“But seriously, Ember. None of you have been coming to Amity Park for weeks. I know you have the desire, obsession, whatever you want to call it. Something’s been stopping you guys, right? Isn’t it, like, almost against your nature, I think…?” Ember simply looked at him, not answering. She scrutinized him for a good minute, while Danny awkwardly waited for an answer, if there was even one coming.

After uncomfortably long time, she finally answered. “See… Vlad is…” she began, seeming to weigh each word carefully. So it was something to do with Vlad; no wonder she was being cautious. “One old sneaky fox. A deal here, a lie here, an artefact there and he… well, he’s forcing us to stay away from the human realm until he gives us permission.”

Danny raised his eyebrows in surprise. What was that supposed to mean? “How would he do that? Did he, like, threaten you? I didn’t think you’d care even if he did.”

“And normally you’d be right. But he made a deal with… um… somebody. I think… I think Vlad wants to… you know,” she traced her finger along her throat. “And wants you in top shape for that, I guess.”

Danny couldn’t help but laugh. “Are we talking about the same Vlad? He’d want an honor battle, fair and square, with me, to the death?” Danny snorted, imaging that. “Yeah right. But,” his expression suddenly became serious again, “he definitely is up to something. Scheming, planning… that’s definitely Vlad’s strong suit, that ancient, bitter vampire. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to bother me again soon,” he promised, flashing Ember a grin as patted her on the shoulder.

She smirked, but it was half-hearted. “Yeah whatever. Better be prepared, loser.”

He saluted and flew away.

It got him thinking; the only good solution would be to pay him a little visit – catching Vlad unguarded, planning probably.

It _was_ kind of unusual, come to think of it. It had been a really long time since Vlad had made any mischief. They used to see each other surprisingly often, but with so much going on every day, Danny simply didn’t have a moment to spare on thinking about what his so-called archenemy was up to. There was a chance, albeit a small one, that Masters actually had to _work,_ both as mayor and as a businessman. He couldn’t spend all his time finding ways to woo Danny’s mother, take over the world, or whatever other villainous things ran through his mind.

For a little while, Danny had actually started thinking better of Vlad. Meeting Vlad in the future, the older Vlad who had taken him in and tried to care for him after the death of his parents, had slowly forced Danny to change his opinion. Maybe that nefarious mastermind had a good bone in him? Sure, the outcome of that attempted good deed had sort of backfired, but it was done with good intentions. The fact that Vlad had even had good intentions was kind of astounding.

Danny shook his head to clear away those strange thoughts as he made his way back to the Fentons’ Portal, to visit Vlad’s house. It occurred to Danny that he didn’t actually know if Vlad had a portal in his house; even if he did, coming through that way was like screaming “hey it’s me, the ghost boy” to the whole house. Danny might not have been the subtlest person on the planet, but even he wasn’t _that_ oblivious. Besides, ghost powers just happened to be ideal for sneaking.

It was time to make a visit to his favorite fruitloop.

~*~

Vlad had had a feeling tickling at the back of his mind for the longest time – a feeling of change, that something big – and good – was about to happen. He pondered whether it could be another one of his ghost powers that had somehow remained unknown for the last 20 years he had spent as a halfa.

It started a few months ago with nothing extraordinary, really. No fireworks. He simply ascended the stairs down to this lab, intending to work on something.

“Hello, Vlad” said Maddie-hologram. He looked at her, attempting to brush her off – _not today –_ and that caused him to _really_ look.

Maddie was a fairly attractive woman. She had wide hips, thin waist, bright, wide eyes, delicate face– all the feature that a man looked for in a wife. She was also very fit and intelligent. Maddie had a passion for everything she did. Those were admirable traits in a ghost hunter but also in a partner.

Maddie really was amazing. That’s how… that’s how Vlad remembered her from his college days, at least.

That underlying feeling of wrongness when he pursued her was easy enough for Vlad to ignore. Even while wallowing in uncertainty in his hospital bed after the accident, Vlad made having Maddie as a partner his goal. It was easy to ignore the fact that neither Maddie nor Jack, his so-called friends, had visited him. Vlad was a pretty decent at ignoring the things he did not want to think about. A woman, wealth, power – those were the things we strived for.

Over time, she became a symbol rather than her own person. Vlad could not say with certainty when that shift had occurred.

Maddie was his symbol of warmth, of another person caring, of unconditional love… of happiness, really.

But no, Vlad didn’t love that woman.

When he started considering this new epiphany, Vlad realized that Maddie actually annoyed him a great deal. Frankly, she was oblivious- likely from too much time spent with her husband. She wasn’t the best company. As it turned out, she wasn’t overly caring, either; arguably, she was on the borderline of being neglectful as she was too wrapped up in ghost hunting to even notice her _own son_ was a ghost.

He looked at the Maddie-hologram again. It was standing still, waiting for instructions, seeing with blind eyes. He spared her one last glance before moving to sit at the lab desk, turning on the computer. After a moment or two and several keystrokes, the hologram dissolved into thin air. Vlad leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

That was a big thing that he just did. Vlad had finally let go. Even though, in retrospect, he had never been holding onto anything that was real, anything worth keeping.

What was Vlad left with now?

Vlad stood, then paused. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t remember the last time he had been without a plan, scheme, or goal. On a whim, Vlad exited the lab. It was time to do something he hadn’t done in years – stroll through his mansion. Simply walk. Whenever Vlad moved through the house, he usually phased through the floors, doors and walls, flying by so fast that he never bothered to notice what he was passing. He honestly had no idea what possessions he kept in his _own home._ This home, anyway; he had a better idea of what waited for him back in Wisconsin. Still, he had lived in Amity Park for quite some time – it was high time to finally discover what lurked in the shadows. He acquired this mansion around the same time he had been elected mayor. The only changes Vlad had made to the house was the addition of his lab, which he knew like the back of his hand.

The mansion had three floors. Vlad decided it would be prudent to start at the bottom and work his way up.

The rooms were pretty, elegant and opulent. Classy. Very boring. Polished curved furniture, delicate crystal figures, chandeliers, a cushion here or there – those rooms were empty, devoid of life. Upstairs was the very same; only instead of tables and desks, there were beds. It could have been, should have been, a home for many people; many families, even. There was a small gym, a library, cinema, game room, and several offices. In a farther corner of the building, he knew, were the staff’s quarters. Vlad employed a select few individuals who fixed his meals- though oftentimes he cooked for himself due to the odd hours he kept- and cleaned and dusted the unused rooms although since he lived on his own, there was little to clean… Except after his fights with Daniel, of course.

That thought caused Vlad to stop. He leaned gingerly on a nearby decorative table, careful of the flower vase on top of it, and pondered his young adversary.

It had been two weeks since they had last seen each other. They had fought for a bit, unsurprisingly. Really, fighting was mostly out of habit at this point. For fun, even. Their encounters were always the most exciting part of Vlad’s week. The rest of his time was filled with endless work, whether as a mayor, as a businessman, or a scientist.

 _That impossible teenager_ , Vlad thought fondly to himself. He changed forms and looked at himself in the mirror further down the hall. He really did look like a vampire. He smirked. If Danny were here, he would undoubtedly have a wry quip ready and waiting. Vlad enjoyed the witty, terribly cheesy lines that Danny could come up with, no matter the situation.

He stopped abruptly in his tracks. _What in the name of butter biscuits I’m thinking about? My old age must be getting to me…_

There was something about it, though. Vlad couldn’t deny it, now that he was thinking critically about it. There was lingering connection between them that he couldn’t quite explain with words. Vlad had felt it before, while enduring unbearably long meetings or at night when sleep eluded him. His mind would drift back to Daniel. Vlad often found himself reliving their fights in his head, coming up with new ideas and plans on how to best the foolish, young hero. Other times, Vlad would create elaborate speeches in his head designed to make Daniel reconsider his self-imposed role as the town’s protector. Vlad wanted, needed to make him see that he didn’t need to bend over backwards to help people who didn’t even acknowledge him, who didn’t care, who despised him when he made the smallest mistake. Those pathetic people simply didn’t deserve a hero watching over them, protecting them day and night. What Daniel _really_ should have been spending his time was Vlad, as both Masters and Plasmius. As his archenemy, didn’t Vlad deserve more attention than the rest of their dreary little town?

Yes, that was Vlad ought to do – prepare a little something for the ghost boy.

Daniel needed to start holding Vlad in a higher regard. Amity Park, the pitiful slum that it was, could never be as deserving of the young hero as Vlad was. It was time for a real fight between ultimate enemies, a fight that would remind Daniel just whom he was dealing with.

_Oh, just you wait, little badger._

_Just you wait._   
  


~*~

Here Vlad was, two months later, with no plan, and Daniel barreling straight towards his mansion.

Splendid.

Vlad really did try, though! He took steps – via an old deal that he’d known would come in handy one day – so Daniel could be focused solely on their brawl, nothing else. And that was as far as Vlad had gotten with so-called ‘master plan.’ He couldn’t think of anything. Absolutely nothing. It was infuriating. What was Vlad supposed to do? He wiped at his brow with a shaking hand. He could only blame part of his discomfort on his ghostly physiology; he tended to maintain a warmer temperature than most, but he refused to give up his suits. Vlad was, to his dismay and disgust, nervous. It was just _Daniel_ , for fudge’s sake!

“Fruitloop!”

It was time to face the music.

“Something I can help you with, little badger?”

~*~

Vlad’s house was almost completely empty. Danny wished he could say he was surprised at that, but in all honesty he wasn’t.

What _did_ surprise him was the lack of alarms. Danny was sure that there would be alarms blaring and lights flashing the moment he passed through the security barrier. But there was nothing. Flying through the silent, empty mansion was honestly even more creepy than he had anticipated. Danny headed straight to the lab and found it deserted. Only the soft whoosh of the ventilators and the low hum of the electrical equipment greeted him.

It was very tidy; unlike in his parents’ lab, there were no blueprints strewn about or pieces of equipment lying on every surface. Danny approached what he assumed was the main computer. He wasn’t Tucker, but Danny was fairly confident that he at least somewhat knew his way around lab-related technology. As a ghost living in a ghost hunters’ lab, Danny had learned pretty quickly how to disarm or disable systems meant to detect or destroy ghosts.

The screen required a login password. Danny smirked. Vlad was so predictable, Danny wouldn’t have a problem figuring out his password.

“Maddie”

“Maddie Masters”

“Maddie+Vlad4ever”

Nothing worked. Why didn’t those work? Vlad was supposed to be his predictable, egotistical archenemy.

Danny scowled, suddenly irritated with the whole thing. He was in Vlad’s house, in his lab, casually trying to hack into his computer. Somewhere above the lab, in one of the mansion’s many rooms, Danny could sense Vlad’s ectosignature. Instead of fumbling around down in the lab, Danny could be upstairs making a scene.

“Fruitloop!” he yelled as he shot up through the floors, making a beeline for the other halfa.

He found Vlad leaning on a decorative table in the hall with his arms crossed over his chest. The millionaire raised an unimpressed eyebrow and, in the sarcastic tone that Danny knew so well, asked, “Something I can help you with, little badger?”

He looked utterly bored and… strangely normal. Casual, even, despite wearing his usual black suit. His silver-gray hair was, as usual, tied in a low ponytail on the nape on his neck. He didn’t look ready to fight. “What are you planning, Plasmius?”

“Did your brilliant, heroic mind come up with this idea, to just go ahead and ask me what I’m up to?”

Danny narrowed his eyes but said nothing, floating in place. They must have made an eerie picture; a softly glowing ghost and an elegant yet sardonic looking man, staring each other down in the opulent hallway of an empty mansion. What a strange pair they made.

“What did you do to the ghosts?” Danny demanded.

“Oh, do you not like it? I thought you’d appreciate having a little break.”

“Drop it, fruitloop. You’re always up to something, just tell me what you’ve done this time so I can fix it,” Danny snapped, his fists firing up with green ectoenergy.

“Don’t blow anything up, I’m planning on giving this mansion away when grow bored of being mayor,” Vlad said with an idle wave of his hand. Without bothering to glance at Danny, Vlad turned and headed down the closest flight of stairs. Danny followed, unable to contain his curiosity and irritation.

“Is something wrong with your powers? Why are you walking down the stairs like an actual human being?” Danny’s questions were answered when a ball of pink energy came whizzing over the other halfa’s shoulder, barely missing Danny’s head before fizzling out.

“Rest assured, Daniel, my powers remain in fine form,” Vlad promised, but there was no heat in his words. He went up to the kitchen counter, poured water into a teapot, then snapped his fingers at it. Danny floated over, his curiosity overriding his common sense.

“Vlad… are you… are you making tea…?”

“So it appears. Sugar?” the millionaire asked calmly, as though they sat down together for tea every day.

“What the hell is going on with you?!” Danny spluttered angrily. Something had to be wrong with Vlad, that was the only reasonable explanation, because Danny could not for the life of him wrap his head around this situation. He was in Vlad’s _house_ , being offered _tea_ , after being told that Vlad wanted him _dead_. It was starting to give Danny whiplash.

“If you don’t want any, you’re free to leave. The door is that way, not that I expect you to use it. If you want to stay, however, I’m going to have to insist you switch forms.” Danny eyed him suspiciously. Vlad rolled his eyes and continued fixing his cup of tea. “If I wanted to attack you, I would have done so already. If I wanted to poison you, I wouldn’t be drinking from the same pot. If I wanted to suddenly lash out at you, your human form is no less durable than your ghost form,” he said conversationally while rummaging through a cabinet.

Danny thought the idea was beyond ridiculous. Him? Drinking tea with his archenemy? No way! Danny would never.

But for some strange reason, instead of bolting out of there as fast as he could, Danny dropped to the floor and switched back from Phantom to Fenton.

Vlad glanced over at him with something vaguely resembling a smile. “Sugar?”

“Three teaspoons.”

“Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack?” the millionaire commented, adding the requested amount. Danny shrugged and continued to regard Vlad as he poured steaming water from the teapot into two, elegant cups. The hero raised his brow in surprise – Vlad hadn’t used a kettle.

_Fire core._

It was honestly really impressive that Vlad was so in control of his core. Danny knew how to use his ice powers in battle, but he had trouble using them for smaller things, like creating a figurine in his hand like he’d seen Frostbite do. He tried practicing whenever he could, but his limited free time had to be spent on schoolwork and sleep before he could indulge in the less combat related aspects of his powers. Being cold all the time didn’t help, either. Maybe, if Danny really was sticking around for a cup of tea, he could ask Vlad how to-

No, no no, bad idea.

Danny shook his head to clear those thoughts away before sitting at the table across from Vlad. He took the blissfully warm cup of tea in his hands and blew on it, waiting for his host to drink first. Danny liked to pretend that he had _some_ sense of self-preservation. Vlad shot him an amused glance, clearly aware of what Danny was thinking, and took a sip. Feeling somewhat reassured, Danny took a sip too.

He expected to feel dizzy, nauseous and faint on the spot, but he felt normal. And warmer, thankfully. Danny took another drink.

“So… how is school going?” Vlad asked casually.

Danny spat out the very sip he just took and started hacking and laughing. “Are-are you seriously asking me- how school is? Fine, thank you!” he wheezed some more while ignoring Vlad’s disappointed glare.

“I am simply trying to be polite. That’s a polite, neutral question, is it not?” Vlad retorted as Danny got his coughing under control.

“Yeah, coming from like, distant relatives or people you see at the grocery store, not _you_.”

The silver-haired man looked at the kitchen counter and a paper towel, enclosed in pink energy, ripped itself from the roll and drifted towards them. The haunted paper towel wiped the table off before throwing itself into the garbage bin under the sink. The older halfa must have noticed Danny’s blatant admiration, because he asked with a smirked “Want me to teach you?” Danny flushed, embarrassed at being caught.

“If you would only…” Vlad sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

~*~

“If you would only…” he let the sentence hover between them as he looked at Daniel expectantly.

“If I would only what, become an evil loser like you?” Daniel snapped immediately, like Vlad knew he would.

The older halfa huffed. “You see it as evil, I see it as… self-interested. I simply have my own interests set as a priority. What’s so wrong with that? Every creature on this world and the next prioritize themselves, Daniel, that’s how things _are_.”

Daniel sipped his tea silently for a minute, clearly considering a rebuttal. “I mean… to some extent. I guess. But Vlad, you just take what you want without even considering how it’ll affect other people.”

“Or ghosts,” Vlad added.

“Or ghosts,” Daniel agreed. “And yeah, fine, prioritize yourself. Prioritize your cat for all I care. But don’t hurt others. Besides,” the hero grimaced, “with all your wealth, I think you especially have the…responsibility to care. Give some to foundations for starving children, not buy yourself another yacht or whatever you rich people do.”

The millionaire frowned. “That’s easy for you to say. You are young and still woefully naïve.” Daniel scoffed and rolled his eyes, but Vlad insisted, “It’s true. What is also true is that it’s _my_ money, that I spent a long time working-”

“Working! You’ve never-”

“-for, and I’m not planning to give it up in any way.”

“I’m not saying you should donate everything and live in a box under a bridge like the troll you actually are. Just, you know, some. Not enough that you’d even miss it, just enough to help people.”

“I didn’t earn all of this by feeding the poor, Daniel. And, in case you forgot, I was selected by _The Fortune Magazine_ as man of the year 1997. I must have done something altruistic to earn that.”

“You did for fame and public opinion, not because you though ‘boo-hoo, poor abuse victims.’ I’m not an idiot, unlike the people who gave you that award.”

“My motivations are unimportant,” Vlad evaded as he waved off the young man’s assertions, “Besides, I’m hardly the only one guilty of courting public opinion and vying for fame.”

“Do you seriously think I do this, ghost fighting, for _fame_ of all things? _Public opinion?_ Most of the time people _hate_ me, certain _government_ authorities-” he looked at Vlad pointedly “- want to catch me like I’m some kind of criminal! Just… no,” Daniel declared in frustration. Despite having an ice core, his emotions were always fiery and explosive. The older halfa smiled at the irony.

Taking another sip of his tea, Vlad surreptitiously studied his guest. Daniel was 17-years old now and bore little resemblance to the young buck who Vlad had met three years prior. His features had started to sharpen into an adult’s – his jawline was more pronounced, and he had a bit of stubble coming along, too. Thankfully, he seemed to be favoring his mother’s more slender side of the gene pool rather than Jack’s enormous bulk. Daniel was, objectively, an attractive young man.

Vlad found himself staring, only realizing his mistake when Daniel glared back at him.

“What?” the younger halfa asked, narrowing his eyes at him.

“Daniel, if there is one thing about you that I can’t comprehend it would be… why?” He didn’t need to explain, Daniel understood exactly what he was asking.

“Why…” Daniel echoed, staring at the table. Vlad could feel the sweat beading on his forehead again; he was overheating, and the hot tea certainly wasn’t helping. Shrugging off his jacket absently, Vlad waited for Daniel to gather his thoughts. Vlad was, much to his own surprise, intrigued at what his little badger had to say. How strange it was to be genuinely interested in something again after being adrift for so long. And of course, it had to be Daniel of all people who captured his attention.

“I… I think I got lucky? Very lucky, getting these powers. I mean, I didn’t die. Mostly…” Danny chuckled drily. “I mean, it’s a gift. Who else can do those things? Flying, shooting freaking ice blasts?” Blue energy swirled briefly around his hand and Vlad felt a wonderful wave of cool, soothing air flow past. It was over far too quickly, but for a few moments it calmed his sweltering core. Vlad was too warm again almost immediately, but that had been-- intriguing. Shaking off the distraction, he focused back in on Daniel’s words. “It seems wrong to use my powers just for my own benefit and to not care about other people. It seemed logical, ya know? The human kid with ghost powers, fighting ghosts to protect other humans?”

“Even when you get nothing out of it?” Vlad pressed, but the younger halfa shrugged.

“It’s not about getting something out of it, I guess…”

That roused Vlad’s ire. “Nothing out of it, _you guess_? Don’t try that with me, Daniel, when we both know it’s not the truth. I’m not sure how far your so-called ‘good nature’ goes, but I do understand you well enough to know it’s not _that_ far.”

“Fine, call it a duty then. Yeah, I see it as a duty, and I know I wouldn’t be able to stand still during a fight even without ghost powers.”

“I still think you’re wasting your time with that ‘duty’ nonsense. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you’re really just doing this for yourself? That you do it not out of duty, but for the rush of adrenaline it gives you?”

Daniel froze with his cup halfway to his mouth before setting it gently on the table. Vlad was delighted to see the clear lines of tension on his face. Obviously he had struck too close to home with that one.

“Yeah… yeah, I did, actually…” Daniel admitted quietly as he rubbed at his face, suddenly looking tired.

“Do elaborate, little badger. Oh, come on” exclaimed Vlad, seeing the look being leveled at him. “To whom am I going to talk about it? My cat? Besides, I shouldn’t even care. I can’t think of anything I could do to use that knowledge to my advantage.”

“I still would rather not,” Danny said surprisingly politely as he stood up. “Who knew? You can uphold a civil conversation when you’re not being a total asshole.”

“Who knew? You can uphold a civil conversation when you’re not being a total brat,” Vlad replied, standing up also. Daniel flashed him a last half-smile before a white flash of light obscured him from Vlad’s sight. The light faded, and Vlad found himself alone in the mansion once more.

Vlad couldn’t stop the bemused grin that flitted across his face. Trying to shake off the unfamiliar expression and the feelings that caused it, Vlad reached to adjust his jacket’s lapel out of habit – only to find that he wasn’t wearing his jacket at all. It was hung on the back of the chair he had been sitting in.

He stared at it.

Then stared some more.

_How…?_

At some point during his life, between getting his powers and the place he was standing in now, Vlad had promised himself that he’d look sharp, elegant and well put together at all times. As a younger man, he had always been a little clumsy, messy and disorganized. He started wearing suits all the time, no matter the occasion, no matter the company, and almost never (it may have happened thrice during ten years) showed himself without one on. It became such a habit that Vlad only took it off when he was alone and comfortable. It was his armor. After his fire core manifested it became a point of pride, an example of his strong will, to never take it off despite feeling like he was melting.

And here it was.

Innocently hanging on a chair.

~*~

Danny took off into the air towards the sky. It was getting late, the sun was already setting. _A short patrol will have to do._

It would definitely help clear his head.

Danny didn’t remember last time he was so confused. He had a _chat_ and _tea_ (which he wasn’t really a fan of) with _Vlad_. The very same Vlad who had tried to steal his mother from his dad. Danny had actually enjoyed it.

Impossible. He had probably ran into a wall-- despite his ghost powers making that impossible-- gotten a concussion, and was having a weird dream while Sam and Tucker dragged his body somewhere inconspicuous.

This was probably just another one of Vlad’s plans to take Danny over to his side. This time he had obviously taken a different approach, a smarter one.

If that was his new plan… it was working.

Danny had been so distracted that he hadn’t even gotten the information that he had come searching for in the first place: what was up with the ghosts disappearing? His attempt at interrogating Plasmius was interrupted by tea of all things.

Honestly, Vlad’s behavior was more interesting than some missing ghosts. On the one hand, Danny was more than sure that Vlad was up to something. On the other hand, there was a tiny part of Danny that desperately hoped that Vlad was just being nice for once.

Danny had to find out which it was.

**Author's Note:**

> I mean, feedback would be very much appreciated, seeing as I'm not only new to writing, but also not a native speaker.  
> See you in the next chapter, much love!


End file.
